Thursday, December 28, 2006

This optical illusion relies on a principle called "Chromatic Adaptation".

An object may be viewed under various conditions. For example, it may be illuminated by the sunlight, the light of a fire, or a harsh electric light. In all of these situations, the visual system indicates that the object has the same color: an apple always appears red, whether viewed at night or during the day. This feature of the visual system is called chromatic adaptation.

Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments.

This "adaptation mechanism" allows our eyes to recover from an oversensitivity to a particular stimuli. "Chromatic adaptation" occurs when our eyes adjust to certain color stimuli. Chromatic adaptation is one of the more easily fooled aspects of vision, and is prone to some of the most spectacular optical illusions.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Saturday, December 09, 2006

You're browsing the web and you click a link to an article on a site (let's say nytimes.com) but instead of getting the article you get a screen asking you to login or register. Infuriated at the idea of pointlessly registering for yet another site you turn to your good buddy bugmenot.comI am sure you must be tired and came across many times like that where you have just register to get excess. Just visit www.bugmenot.com you will find login for most of the sites.Bypass compulsory registration and save your time and annoying spam in your mailbox.

Another one I found something different style of email - a virtual desktop. Cool one. Check out www.goowy.com. it gives you everything you need in a fresh, simple package, including an instant messenger that lets you chat with your buddies from any network, powerful e-mail, contacts & calendar, customized news, rss, minis, file storage, sharing & finally some fun games when you just want to relax.I feel its too cool. I guess google should look at that side and learn something or just buy that site or technology.

Friday, December 08, 2006

A little guy is sitting at the bar just staring at his drink for half an hour when this big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, grabs his drink and gulps it down in one swig. The poor little guy starts crying.

"Come on man, I was just giving you a hard time," says the truck driver. "I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man crying."

This is the worst day of my life," says the little guy between sobs. "I can't do anything right. I overslept and was late to an important meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car was stolen and I have no insurance. I grabbed a cab home but after the cab left, I discovered my wallet was still in the cab. At home I found my wife in bed with the gardener. So I came to this bar trying to work up the courage to put an end to my life. And then you show up and drink the damn poison."

MakeMyTrip - Chalo LankaHanuman being the faithful sidekick to ram arrives to inform him of the capture of his beloved. Hold on though..that doesn’t look like Sita at all!Click to find out what is in his heart

MakeMyTrip - Moving TrainEmpty trains and upset dacoits. What could have reversed the law of land, we wonder! Could those innumerable planes dotting the skies have anything to do with it? Yes, it's likely. The Moving Train, is the latest viral for MakeMyTrip.com to have emerged from within the ranks of Webchutney is both inspired and dedicated to the most cult Indian tale of recent times.Click to find out gabbars new problemMicrosoft Outlook - Don't be udasThe flash video starts with a Pankaj Udaas cartoon singing "Bade dino ke baad.." And he keep's repeasting the same line till someone from the audience asks.. "Bade dino ke baad kya??" .. Then he says.. "kya?" and slowly whispers "Chitthi Aayi hai" and start playing his harmonium wildly!Click to find out Don't be udas campaign by microsoft

Maybe you want to sign up for a site which requires that you provide an e-mail address to send a validation e-mail to. And maybe you don't want to give up your real e-mail address and end up on a bunch of spam lists.

there is a tendency among web sites to ask for your e-mail in order to track you down somehow or keep statistics of their own. For example, want to download something? give us your e-mail! This doesn't seem so bad at first but wait a minute! Giving away your address lets them know where they can reach you. And unfortunately a great deal of them takes advantage of that. For starters they decide to subscribe you to their mailing list, sending your their daily or weekly newsletter. Others sell your address to marketing firms which in turn use it to promote their customers' products.

In the end you end up with a dozen or so e-mails a day in your Inbox that you don't care and never asked for. What can you do?

I came across two website which can help you and escape from such situation.

www.dodgeit.comThis website gives you every email adress without saying you it is used by someone. When you are asked for your e-mail, give a random abc@dodgeit.com. No registration required! After that, visit dodgeit.com and check your e-mail (still without any registration or password). you just have to search it for abc or your expected email content.

www.10minutemail.comyou will be given a temporary e-mail address. Any e-mails sent to that address will show up automatically on the web page. You can read them, click on links, and even reply to them. The e-mail address will expire after 10 minutes.

So difference between two sites will be

Dodgeit will give u email ID with email ID of your choice and will be there on the server for 7 days and by searching anyone can see the information in the mail

10minutemail gives you a unique email ID but it will be deleted in 10 minutes.

So basically you will use this email IDs when you just require once to register with some site once and just click on the link to verify and to avoid spam in the future.

Enjoy. Happy Spam free mail now on.

Update : Other email sites I like from normal Yahoo or GmailGoowyit gives you everything you need in a fresh, simple package, including an instant messenger that lets you chat with your buddies from any network, powerful e-mail, contacts & calendar, customized news, rss, minis, file storage, sharing & finally some fun games when you just want to relax.GabmailSend video mail in 3 clicks. Worth checking out. no need of registration and very easy to use tool.PookmailPookmail is somewhat similar to dodgeit. if you are bored or want some advance option you can use pookmailTempmailAnother brother of that catagory temp mail.MailinatorAnother option to avoide spam

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Thousands of low-caste Hindus attacked police, vehicles and shut shops in India's financial hub Mumbai on Thursday to protest against the desecration of a statue of their leader and founder of the constitution.

Violence also flared in several towns across the western state of Maharashtra, where protesters burnt buses and threw stones at passing traffic, injuring dozens of people.

Protesters said they were angry that a statue of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a low-caste Hindu who authored India's democratic constitution that prohibits caste-based discrimination, had been damaged on Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh state.

"We want police to arrest those who broke Baba Saheb's (Ambedkar's) statue. Otherwise, we will burn Maharashtra," a man shouted at reporters before being dragged away by police in Mumbai. Ambedkar was born in Maharashtra and Mumbai is the capital.

"There are reports of some sporadic incidents. However, things are under control," said Arup Pattnaik, Mumbai police joint commissioner.

But huge groups carrying posters and banners were seen closing shops and clashing with police in several areas of the city.

Witnesses said police used batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse unruly mobs in the city's Worli, Bandra and Chembur neighbourhoods. Police denied the reports but added "several" people had been arrested. Curfews were imposed in some towns.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Apple researchers have built a full working prototype of a Mac tablet PC and three Companies in Taiwan are now costing a product for a potential launch in mid 2007.Sources in Taiwan have said that the focus has been more on the home and the education environment than the enterprise marketplace. Several months ago It was told that Apple was exploring a neat new device that is basically a touch screen that links to various source devices including a brand new media centre that Apple is planning to launch next year.

The Mac tablet has been designed to handle third party applications such as home automation software that will allow users to control lighting, audio, entertainment devices and security feeds. It also acts as a full blown PC has wireless linking for a new generation of Wireless Hi Fi speakers that are currently being tested by Apple.

One set of speakers which are similar in size to the small Bose speakers have been developed by an Australian Company.

The new MAC tablet has Intel processors as well as a docking station that allows the device to link to screens with HDMI input. The docking station also has additional memo0ry capability so that users can stream content to either the tablet PC or the docking station or directly to a media centre if one is being used.

During the past year Apple has lodged several touch screen patents. They have also lodged patents for wireless devices. However three patents according to sources have been lodged by third part Companies who are licensing technology to Apple.

Quanta and Hon Hai Precision Industry are Taiwanese Companies that make notebooks and other devices for Apple. Both have signed confidentiality agreements with Apple for the Tablet Mac.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The long-rumored arrival of a hybrid mobile phone and iPod music player from Apple Computer Inc. has morphed from a question of "If" to "When" among fans and analysts.

Since Apple's introduction of the iPod five years ago, the company has sold more than 67 million of the devices and more than 1.5 billion songs from its iTunes online music store.

Now, Chief Executive Steve Jobs and Apple are poised to roll out what has been dubbed the "iPhone," perhaps as soon as January next year at the Macworld conference that kicks off every new year, analysts say.

"From a technical standpoint, the phone is pretty much done," said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu. "It's a big endeavor and we believe it's beyond speculation."

"There is a lot of buzz," said Gartner analyst Mike McGuire. "But there are also a lot of things in the way that make it difficult. Which carrier and the like they use are not trivial challenges."

Jobs and Apple are famously tight-lipped about unannounced products. But company Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer did hint about a possible mobile phone with iPod-like functions during a conference call with analysts in July to discuss third-quarter financial results.

"We don't think that the phones that are available today make the best music players," he said. "We think the iPod is. But over time, that is likely to change. And we're not sitting around doing nothing."

"The key challenge here is if they were doing it, it has to be a very good phone and a good extension or subset of the iPod and iTunes software," McGuire said. "It's not just music. It would have to be a good media device."

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Intro: Guru is a forthcoming Hindi film to be directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan and Vidya Balan in pivotal roles. The movie also stars Mithun Chakraborty in a supporting role and Mallika Sherawat in a cameo role. The movie will also be dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. The film's score and soundtrack will be composed by A. R. Rahman.

Production: Directed by Mani Ratnam, who has written the script with Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Vijay Krishna Acharya, Guru is said to be a mature love story. Shooting for the film took place in Turkey( www.arkproduction.com ) and Badami, Karnataka, as well as in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The music is composed by A.R. Rahman, with lyrics by Gulzar. Cinematography for the film is handled by Rajiv Menon. Current reports state that the film is based on the life of India's biggest petrochemicals tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani. It is also rumoured that 'Guru' has been inspired from the Hollywood flick, 'The Aviator' starring Leonardo Di Caprio.

Music:A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Gulzar. An audio launch for the film was held on November 5, 2006 and was attended by the cast of Guru along with other celebrities. The audio CD and audio casette's of the film were subsequently released on November 18, 2006 under the label of Sony BMG.

Friday, November 17, 2006

An incident late Tuesday night in which a UCLA student was stunned at least four times with a Taser has left the UCLA community questioning whether the university police officers' use of force was an appropriate response to the situation.

Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, was repeatedly stunned with a Taser and then taken into custody when he did not exit the CLICC Lab in Powell Library in a timely manner. Community Service Officers had asked Tabatabainejad to leave after he failed to produce his BruinCard during a random check at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

UCPD Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Young said the checks are a standard procedure in the library after 11 p.m.

"Because of the safety of the students we limit the use after 11 to just students, staff and faculty," Young said.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The tangle of cables and plugs needed to recharge today's electronic gadgets could soon be a thing of the past.

US researchers have outlined a relatively simple system that could deliver power to devices such as laptop computers or MP3 players without wires.How Wireless energy could work??

Resonance. a phenomenon that causes an object to vibrate when energy of a certain frequency is applied.

Instead of using acoustic vibrations, the researcher's exploits the resonance of electromagnetic waves. Electromagneticradiation includes radio waves, infrared and X-rays. Typically, systems that use electromagnetic radiation,such as radio antennas, are not suitable for the efficient transfer ofenergy because they scatter energy in all directions, wasting largeamounts of it into free space. To overcome this problem, the team investigated aspecial class of "non-radiative" objects with so-called "long-livedresonances".

Hence, a simple copper antenna designed to havelong-lived resonance could transfer energy to a laptop with its ownantenna resonating at the same frequency. The computer would be trulywireless.

However, Mr Hay said that transferring the power was only part of the solution. "There are a number of other aspects that need to beaddressed to ensure efficient conversion of power to a form useful toinput to devices." Professor Soljacic will present the work at the AmericanInstitute of Physics Industrial Physics Forum in San Francisco on 14November. The work was done in collaboration with his colleagues Aristeidis Karalis and John Joannopoulos.

Zune arrives next Tuesday, Microsoft was hoping to make a big splash. However, it won't be getting any help from the technology media, which have for the most part passed over the so-called "iPod killer" in lackluster reviews.

These are the few negative points i found just giving outline of it.

The bad news begins with the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, who called the Zune's hardware "rushed and incomplete." He pointed to both the fairly significantly larger size and poor battery life. He also notes that the larger screen doesn't mean better resolution than the iPod - just a bigger picture.

Additionally, Mossberg points out the smaller size of the Zune music store, and its lack of TV shows, movies or music videos as well as audiobooks and podcasts as drawbacks. Mossberg also criticized the Microsoft Points system, which is required to make purchases for the Zune, calling it deceptive.

The iPod is thin, sleek and elegant looking. The Zune looks big and blocky, sort of like a prototype for a gadget, rather than a finished product.

Pogue called the fact that Zune users cannot fill their devices using Windows Media Player and rather must use a separate application "a ridiculous duplication of effort."

Zune misses many of the extra features that the iPod has, and is incapable of being used as an external hard drive like most other MP3 players.

But still critics rates this product as high because they think as a 1st product its a good effort.

Bottom line : I will rate ipod as # 1 mp3 player till next improvement from microsoft.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a system that can determine the "mood" of a room by sensing all sorts of factors in an environment. The mood data is then transmitted to LED lights that change based on how people feel. Called SHOJI, the system detects light, temperature, humidity, infrared radiation, ultrasonic waves, the movement of people in the room, their body temperatures, and the "nature of the activity" in the room. All of this gets summed up in a colored light? OK. Apparently this is meant to be set up in offices so managers can have a big-brotherish sense of how their employees are feeling and presumably know what kind of mood-altering drugs to pump through the air conditioning to make their wage slaves more productive.Source : Sci-fi

On November 6, Oki Electric announced the development of iris recognition technology for camera-equipped mobile phones. Unlike Oki’s previous iris recognition technology that relies on infrared cameras for the iris scan, the new technology uses ordinary cellphone cameras.

With plans to make the technology commercially available in March 2007, Oki hopes to boost the security of cellphone payment systems.

According to Oki, any camera-equipped cellphone or PDA can perform iris recognition once the special software is installed. Identification accuracy is said to be high, with only 1 in 100,000 scans resulting in error, and the system can tell the difference between flesh-and-blood eyes and photographs.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Microsoft on Monday took the wraps off Virtual Earth 3D, a new version of the company's mapping application that enables users to "fly" through three-dimensional models of cities from directly within their Web browser - complete with virtual billboards.The idea is that users can type a query into Windows Live Search and click on the "maps" tab to bring up results in a local context, with the ability to view two-dimensional aerial and bird's-eye imagery, or the new 3D models offered by Virtual Earth.As part of the change, Windows Live Local is being re-branded Windows Live Search Maps.The service is poised to compete with Google Earth, a standalone application that complements the search giant's online mapping service. But Microsoft says its offering takes the concept to another level, by bringing the virtual world closer to the physical world.Instead of grey scale boxes of buildings like in Google Earth, Virtual Earth 3D uses photographs to create realistic, textured buildings. Microsoft says it developed the cameras it uses to capture the images in house, as well as creating an algorithmic program to build the textured 3D models.However, because of the level of detail Virtual Earth 3D offers, Microsoft is launching the product with support for only 15 cities. On the list are San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Dallas, Fort Worth, Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, San Jose, Phoenix, and Houston.Not everything will be real, however. Microsoft is putting virtual billboards into the 3D cities it creates, enabling the company to sell advertising directly in these virtual worlds. For example, a billboard advertises Fox above the AMC Lowes cinema in San Francisco. Microsoft was able to accomplish this through technology it acquired from in-game advertising company Massive last April.Microsoft says it plans to continually add new cities to the service, as well as expanding Virtual Earth to other countries. Developers will also be given access to the APIs in order to integrate the 3D cities into their applications, although this functionality will require a fee.Virtual Earth 3D only works in Internet Explorer.

It is not really sure that there's going to be any consumer haptics devices outside the context of a video game anytime soon, but that hasn't stopped the European Union from funding the HAPTEX (HAPtic sensing of virtual TEXtiles) project. Haptics, of course, is the study of touch sensory feedback, and scientists at the University of Geneva are currently working on a project that will incorporate touch into your online shopping. So let's say that you're looking online to buy pants, but you're not sure if you want corduroys or jeans -- in case you didn't know what those materials felt like, you'd touch a device that would allow you to feel the various textures. The project is due to end exactly one year from now, so that's when we'll find out if the €1.66 million ($2.11 million) that EU taxpayers shelled out was really worth it -- and what devices, if any, will come to fruition.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

The Zionist Organization of America has strongly criticized Dr. Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania, for not only allowing entrance to her Halloween party of Saad Saadi, a guest dressed as an Arab suicide bomber; but also posing with him for a photograph. Photographs mounted on Saadi's website show him wearing a Palestinian Arab keffiyat (headress), a plastic dynamite belt strapped to his chest and a toy machine gun. Saadi carrying out a mock killing of a hostage while supposedly reading from the Quran, and posing with a young child pointing a toy gun, entitled 'Influencing a future Muhajideen' (Democracy Project, November 2).In a letter to Dr. Gutmann, ZOA President Morton A. Klein, Chairman of ZOA Board, Dr. Michael Goldblatt, Chairman of Executive Committee, Dr. Alan Mazurek, and Treasurer Henry Schwartz wrote, "we are frankly shocked and appalled by your gross error of judgment? How is it possible that you tolerated the presence at your party of someone dressed as a suicide bomber and lend credibility to this symbol of the radical Islamic terror war against the West by happily posing with him. Would you have done the same if he had come dressed as the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan?

Friday, November 03, 2006

Gujju boy on his first day at school in USA......... .It was the first day of school and a new student name little Shah entered the fourth grade. The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History. Who said "Give me Liberty, or give me Death"?She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Shah, who had his hand up: "Patrick Henry, 1775" he said."Very good"Who said "Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?"Again, no response except from Shah "Abraham Lincoln, 1863" said Shah.The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Shah, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."She heard a loud whisper: "F**k the Indians,""Who said that?" she demanded.Shah put his hand up. "General Custer, 1862."At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke."The teacher glares around and asks "All right! Now, who said that?"Again, Shah says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? S*ck this!"Shah jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"Now with almost a mob hysteria someone said "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you."Shah frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001."The teacher fainted. And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said, "Oh shit, we're f**ked!"And Shah said quietly, "George Bush, Iraq, 2005."

Forget what you know about lenticular-based 3D displays, holograms, and even those "real" 3D image projectors being toyed around with in Japan. That 3D image you're looking at above was generated within the Cheotpics360, a four-sided transparent pyramid develop by a Danish team of engineers and designers from viZoo and Romboll. The Cheoptics360 can display both computer and film content when used either indoors or out and scale from 1.5-meters on up to 30-meters. The video images generated by the four projectors are re-assembled within the prism-like pyramid through a process of mirroring and reflection making them appear to float in mid-air. Hear that gamers, how 'bout setting this rig up at your next frag fest! Check the video after the break... you will believe.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Apple said Tuesday that it planned to release the second-generation iPod Shuffle on Nov. 3, which is thought to be the world's smallest MP3 player at just a half a cubic inch in volume and weighing in at a half an ounce. The player has a 1-gigabyte capacity and retails for $79 USD.

Originally The cause of the delay is unknown, however it looks as if the new Shuffle will be the last new iPod before the new year and Macworld 2007. "The new iPod shuffle completes our all-new lineup of iPods for this holiday season and beyond, and we hope it's going to be a huge hit," Apple worldwide marketing vice president Greg Joswiak said.

Microsoft said Tuesday that it would bring its Office Live service out of beta in the United States on November 15, while at the same time launching new free betas in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. With the official release also comes new functionality, it said.

According to Microsoft, nearly 160,000 businesses tested out the service's various features, and through that feedback it has made several changes.Integration with adCenter has been added, along with new Web design tools, more storage, additional e-mail accounts, chatting online through text, voice, or mobile phone, and Windows Live Messenger support. A contact manager has also been added to the suite of offerings for higher-level accounts.Office Live corporate vice president Rajesh Jha said that most small businesses lack the IT departments and knowledge to create applications that enhance their businesses. Thus, Microsoft has created Office Live to fill that void, he said.With the new adCenter support, small businesses would gain the ability to purchase advertising for their businesses across Microsoft's Web properties. The contact manager will help these companies better maintain their business relationships, Microsoft said.Microsoft will also allow more control over Web site design in the new release, allowing users to use custom HTML code. However, if users decide to use the templates, better JavaScript and AJAX support would make "drag and drop" design more easy for those not familiar with Web design.

Finally after thinking for long time and so many days I am launching my own blog. May be I got lots of free time. 1st November Halloween midnight starting this blog, hopefully will continue for long time.

Ok now don’t be afraid I won’t be writing much, as you all know I am not an essay type person. But I will try to update this blog with cutting edge technology, other news with other links and stuff I like.

I just started this blog now as time progress I am planning to change everything on this blog. Please email me your comments and suggestions on kinjal.savai@gmail.com. So keep on visiting this blog.

Disclaimer

All the links posted on this site are the result of search efforts with the use of search engines such as Google. The administrators of this blog do not directly or indirectly host illegal copies of music. If you want to report an abuse contact us immediately and the post will be deleted as soon as the report will be in our disposal.